August 3, 2016 at 5:07 p.m.
DECATUR — The?Patriots have four seniors, but not a ton of experience.
The Starfires are learning to play without the team’s best golfer.
Jay County High School’s girls golf team placed second Tuesday in the season-opening Bellmont Invitational at Cross Creek Golf Club.
“I’m happy with their performance,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray, whose team traveled to Geneva today for the South Adams Invitational. “I?know they will get better as the year goes on. It’s nice they could come away from this with ribbons and medals and stuff.”
The Patriots shot a 432, finishing behind host Bellmont (351) and ahead of South Adams (447).
Senior Cassie Reno made her varsity debut and led the Patriots with a 104 to finish 10th overall. Casey Bunner of Blackhawk Christian was the match medalist with a 5-over-par 77.
Reno made par only once, on the 236-yard, par-4 fifth hole. She had a 50 on the front nine and a 54 on the back.
Carlie Wickey — she’s the lone returning Jay County golfer to play at sectional and regional last season and played from the No. 1 position — made par on each of the first, second and third holes on her way to a 106. The senior was 13th overall, one spot ahead of classmate Kendra Dodd (109).
On the 304-yard, par-4 first hole, Dodd’s drive was just off the left side of the fairway about 160 yards away from the green. Her second shot landed in the rough to the left of the green, and her chip shot from about 25 yards away stopped three feet from the pin.
She tapped in the short putt for one of her three pars on the day. She was also even on the par-3 seventh and par-5 15th holes.
Fellow senior Maddison Brown, who also made her varsity debut, made par twice on her way to a 109 to round out Jay County’s team score.
Sophomore Madalyn Garringer shot a 143 in her first career varsity match.
“For the bottom three, which were Maddison,Cassie and Madalyn, that is their first 18-hole matches,” Gray said. “I?thought they held up pretty well. They stayed with it. I’m proud of them.”
Sierra Caster, a sophomore, as well as freshmen Eden Basford, Tea Nichols, Mackenzie Parks, Gabi Paxson and Olivia Willey make up the rest of the Patriots’ 11-member roster, which is without a junior.
Without much varsity experience outside of Dodd and Wickey, the Patriots will face a number of challenges throughout the season.
“Learning how to handle the pressure,” Gray said. “To see how they handle situations they’re in as the season goes ...
“It’s going to be an interesting year to see how they develop and how they do.”
Gray said the Patriots’ lineup is likely to be changed from one match to the next to find the right mix of players. He added that Caster was going to play today in the South Adams Invitational in Garringer’s spot, but no position is locked in just yet.
“It is open all the time,”?he said.
Amy Schwartz led South Adams with a 104 to finish 11th overall, and Kaiti Gorrell’s 106 was good enough for 12th.
Becah Schwartz shot a 113 for the Starfires’ No. 3 score, and Allyson Schwartz totaled 124 to complete the team score.
Selina Jones also competed, and she shot a 125.
South Adams coach Seth Sprunger said the learning curve for his group will be incredibly steep this year, as the Starfires will be without two-time state qualifier Sydney Willis, who graduated and now plays for Lipscomb University.
In the past, Willis, who consistently shot in the 70s, could help bring down the team score. In her absence, though, Sprunger said the play of each golfer will be much more important if the Starfires want to repeat as Allen County Athletic Conference champions.
The Starfires are learning to play without the team’s best golfer.
Jay County High School’s girls golf team placed second Tuesday in the season-opening Bellmont Invitational at Cross Creek Golf Club.
“I’m happy with their performance,” said JCHS coach Butch Gray, whose team traveled to Geneva today for the South Adams Invitational. “I?know they will get better as the year goes on. It’s nice they could come away from this with ribbons and medals and stuff.”
The Patriots shot a 432, finishing behind host Bellmont (351) and ahead of South Adams (447).
Senior Cassie Reno made her varsity debut and led the Patriots with a 104 to finish 10th overall. Casey Bunner of Blackhawk Christian was the match medalist with a 5-over-par 77.
Reno made par only once, on the 236-yard, par-4 fifth hole. She had a 50 on the front nine and a 54 on the back.
Carlie Wickey — she’s the lone returning Jay County golfer to play at sectional and regional last season and played from the No. 1 position — made par on each of the first, second and third holes on her way to a 106. The senior was 13th overall, one spot ahead of classmate Kendra Dodd (109).
On the 304-yard, par-4 first hole, Dodd’s drive was just off the left side of the fairway about 160 yards away from the green. Her second shot landed in the rough to the left of the green, and her chip shot from about 25 yards away stopped three feet from the pin.
She tapped in the short putt for one of her three pars on the day. She was also even on the par-3 seventh and par-5 15th holes.
Fellow senior Maddison Brown, who also made her varsity debut, made par twice on her way to a 109 to round out Jay County’s team score.
Sophomore Madalyn Garringer shot a 143 in her first career varsity match.
“For the bottom three, which were Maddison,Cassie and Madalyn, that is their first 18-hole matches,” Gray said. “I?thought they held up pretty well. They stayed with it. I’m proud of them.”
Sierra Caster, a sophomore, as well as freshmen Eden Basford, Tea Nichols, Mackenzie Parks, Gabi Paxson and Olivia Willey make up the rest of the Patriots’ 11-member roster, which is without a junior.
Without much varsity experience outside of Dodd and Wickey, the Patriots will face a number of challenges throughout the season.
“Learning how to handle the pressure,” Gray said. “To see how they handle situations they’re in as the season goes ...
“It’s going to be an interesting year to see how they develop and how they do.”
Gray said the Patriots’ lineup is likely to be changed from one match to the next to find the right mix of players. He added that Caster was going to play today in the South Adams Invitational in Garringer’s spot, but no position is locked in just yet.
“It is open all the time,”?he said.
Amy Schwartz led South Adams with a 104 to finish 11th overall, and Kaiti Gorrell’s 106 was good enough for 12th.
Becah Schwartz shot a 113 for the Starfires’ No. 3 score, and Allyson Schwartz totaled 124 to complete the team score.
Selina Jones also competed, and she shot a 125.
South Adams coach Seth Sprunger said the learning curve for his group will be incredibly steep this year, as the Starfires will be without two-time state qualifier Sydney Willis, who graduated and now plays for Lipscomb University.
In the past, Willis, who consistently shot in the 70s, could help bring down the team score. In her absence, though, Sprunger said the play of each golfer will be much more important if the Starfires want to repeat as Allen County Athletic Conference champions.
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